


Don't Wave No Goodbye

by indevan



Series: Rock Band AU [36]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, F/M, Fluff, Goodbyes, M/M, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 11:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indevan/pseuds/indevan
Summary: Four months is a long time...the members of Kame Kami and Apetail say good-bye to their respective partners and also Piccolo has a bad day





	Don't Wave No Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> [AU timeline](http://vertigoats.tumblr.com/post/166537761367/since-after-the-first-few-the-fics-in-rock-band)

When Chi-Chi first found out that she was pregnant, she had her doubts at Kakarrot being a good father.  Honestly, she had doubts about herself as a mother, but back then she had still been reluctant to admit that she loved him.  For years, she loved him but always felt like she had to keep him at an arm’s length. Always ending things, always unsure if they were together because they were in love or because of Gohan.  Part of her waited for her Prince Charming, waited for a man with a more certain future. But she’s realized that that man _is_ Kakarrot.  When she brought Gohan to a show and heard that song he wrote for her.  The beginning of mending things, of working together on their problems.

She watches him now, kissing and hugging their boys goodbye as they drop them off at his parents’ for the night.  Tomorrow, he leaves for four months on a tour--the first time they’ll be apart since their marriage.

“Be safe, baby,” Gine says, hugging him around the neck.

“Ma, I’m twenty-five.”

“You’ll always be my baby.”

“I baby,” Goten says, grinning cheerfully.

Bardock comes to scoop him up and he giggles happily.  Gohan smiles in that shy, quiet way of his and rests his head against Chi-Chi’s waist.  She’s short, but her baby is growing so tall and he isn’t even seven yet. It’s occurred to them both already that Kakarrot is going to miss Gohan’s birthday for sure and might miss Goten’s.  He’s assured that he’ll call and now she believes him. They’ve worked hard over the past few years on each other and themselves. The only worry she has of him leaving is what he’ll do when she’s not there to curb his impulse control when it comes to drugs and alcohol.

“Good luck,” Bardock says.

He tucks Goten under one arm and spins him around, making her baby scream with laughter.

“Isn’t it bad luck to say ‘good luck’?” Kakarrot asks, cocking his head to the side.

“Fuck if I know.”

Bardock grins as he says it and reaches forward with his free hand to muss up his son’s hair.  Chi-Chi will never quite get the playful mocking the Son family has for each other. She and her dad don’t talk that way.  She’s always been his princess. Even so, she’s always been able to see how much they love one another.

“Have a good night, you two,” Gine says.

There’s a secretive sort of smile on her face and Chi-Chi feels her face begin to burn.  There are few things more embarrassing than your mother-in-law knowing that you’re going home to have sex.

“We will,” she mumbles towards her shoes.

Bardock puts Goten down and he races over for one last hug.  Gohan peels aways from Chi-Chi’s side to hug him as well.

“My GoGo’s,” he says fondly. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Reluctantly, he separates from them and they get in Chi-Chi’s car to go back home.  At her coaxing, Kakarrot’s already packed for tomorrow so they have all the time in the world.  That she’s not used to. It’s like they haven’t had time to themselves since their honeymoon.

His hands fiddle with the hem of his t-shirt when they enter the apartment.  After having their plans insinuated by his mother, Chi-Chi hardly feels in the mood.

“Hey.”

Kakarrot says this softly and reaches out to put his hands on her waist.

“Hey, back.”

Her insecurities melt away as he kisses her.

The first time she and Kakarrot had sex was in her wood-paneled basement.  She had been so, so nervous. He had assured her and said he was a virgin, too (though he had added “technically” after it and she’s still not sure what he meant by that) and that he’d be gentle.

Now they’re used to one another.  She knows the when he’s close and how he feels.  He knows exactly what to do to make her cry out.

Kakarrot lifts her up into his arms and, not missing a kissing beat, walks her into their bedroom.  Getting their clothes off is second nature, now, and soon she’s down to just her cotton underwear. Kakarrot has the waistband between his teeth.

“Be careful,” she warns him. “Don’t tear them.”

“We can afford to get more.” He stills, his hand on her stomach, and looks up.

“Holy crap,” he says and his eyes are wide as saucers.

“What?”

Chi-Chi wonders if she missed something.  Kakarrot starts laughing and she’s even more lost.  She loves him--she definitely knows this now--but he always knows exactly how to ruin the mood.

“What?” she repeats, annoyed.

“We can afford to get more,” he repeats. “I can actually say that and it’s true!”

The annoyance fades as she laughs with him and pulls him up towards her to capture his lips in a kiss.

\--

“Holy shit.”

Lapis smirks and turns slowly in a circle to allow Raditz to get the full view.  He’s glad that he found this absolutely ridiculous underwear set of purple mesh and lime green vinyl in a slime pattern.

“Well?” he asks. “Enough for you to remember me?”

Raditz smirks. “Like I could forget.  Come here.”

He goes into his embrace and presses his face into his thick, dark hair.  Even after all this time, even after being _engaged,_ he can’t believe they’re good like this.  He had befriended Raditz out of curiosity and wound up falling for him.  Now he’s going to spend the rest of his life with him and--it’s a good feeling.

He’s more glad that they’re already in his bedroom and that he’s spending the night.  Tomorrow he’ll drop him off in front of the studio where King Kai has two tour buses (such a far cry from the original tour, Lapis thinks) for Apetail and Kame Kami.  Tonight, though, he has him all to himself.

He kisses him and Raditz’s hand is already in his waistband.  Lapis remembers the first time they had done this, up against the wall of some dive bar they had just performed at, and he had breathlessly said that he couldn’t believe that he had never done this before.

“Z was over earlier,” he says when Raditz’s finger still.  Lapis is hot all over and still arching into his hand but he can talk. “He said if you weren’t gonna fuck me, then he would.”

He makes a face.

“It’s not like that.  He knows we’re monogamous.” Lapis kisses his downturned lips.  Reaches down to press his hand against him.

“Why was he over?”

There’s a slight edge to his voice and Lapis gets it.  Z did, after all, get absolutely wasted and lay one on him.  Worse than the kiss itself, the picture got shared all over social media.  Lapis, though, isn’t one to hold a grudge (unless it was on, say, Cell).

“We’re in talks with Beerus Lorde to do this charity concert.  So we were figuring out what groups and stuff we’d want there.”

“Oh.”

Raditz relaxes.  He extracts his hand to rest it on Lapis’s hipbone.  Lapis scoots in towards him to press himself further against him

“You jealous?”

“No.  I don’t do that shit anymore.”

Raditz drops his head to kiss along his neck and the top of his shoulder.

“I’m lucky that I got the new and improved, grownup Raditz for a boyfriend.”

He makes a fake laughing sound muffled against his skin.  Lapis decides to continue the teasing. He rubs his hands down his back.

“You aren’t going to screw hot groupies on the road, are you?”

This time the laugh is genuine.

“Hell no,” he says. “How dumb would I have to be to fuck up what we have for thirty minutes with some groupie?”

He knows it, of course, and had meant it as a joke but he’s glad to hear it all the same.  Lapis kisses him and then rests his head in the crook of his neck.

“Are you really worried about that?”

“No.  I trust you.”

“Oh, good.”

It’s so disgustingly wholesome, but he doesn’t care.  He’s happy in his life. These past couple of years have been the best he’s ever had.  His teenage years were marred by his eating disorder and struggling with his identity. Coming out in college, being away from his parents, that felt good--and then Cell happened.  He’d been over it long before he met Raditz but he couldn’t say he was truly happy. He had their band and he enjoyed the music they made and the weird way he could be himself onstage, but he’s happy now.  Fulfilled and whole and--good.

He kisses Raditz gently.  Four months until he can see him again--beyond FaceTime or whatever--and he doesn’t want to bog this night down with introspection.

“Raditz…”

“Shh.”

He seems to be on the same page.  Lapis smiles and leans in for a kiss, knowing that they no longer have need for words.

\--

Bulma loves watching Vegeta’s face when he’s above her (or, better, when he’s beneath her) and he’s trying _so hard_ to hold back.  How he doesn’t want to cry out and wake Trunks up.  She reaches up to stroke at his face and squeezes around him.  Preemptively, she puts her hand over his mouth to muffle his shout.

“We’re going to miss you,” she coos once he’s stretched out on her, breathing heavily.

She strokes his face again and peppers it with light kisses.

“Mm,” he grunts.

“I hate the airport rule,” Bulma continues. “You aren’t even going to an airport technically.”

He grunts again and she nudges him out of her and off of her.  Vegeta gets up to deal with the condom and she takes this time to use the bathroom.  She walks back into the room and lies out on the bed next to him.

“This is the shitty part.  Telling people at the university that I’m dating a _rock star_ is fun but I don’t want you to leave.”

Never one to linger on sentiment or sap, Vegeta rolls onto his side and pulls a face.

“First off: I’m not a rock star.”

“Your top twenty album says differently.”

He ignores her and presses on.

“Second of all, I’ll come back.  I always will.”

Bulma sighs and reaches out for him.

“I know that.  Doesn’t mean I don’t hate seeing you go.”

A smirk flickers onto his face.

“But you love watching me leave.”

She huffs out an exaggeratedly exasperated breath.

“It’s not like you to be corny.”

He shrugs and Bulma takes this moment to reach out and lace their fingers.

“Hey,” she says. “Look, we’re joking around and shit but--I meant it.  We’re gonna miss you. I love your sweet, Sicilian ass, okay? Also Trunks is going to throw fifty tantrums a day without you here, just so you know.”

She expects another face or one of his scowls, glowers, grimaces--anything from his repertoire of grouchy faces--but instead Vegeta raises their linked hands to his lips and kisses her knuckles lightly.

“And I meant it, too.  I’ll always fucking come back.” His dark eyes flash in the gloom of their bedroom. “I would toss this shit aside in a heartbeat for you two.”

Bulma feels a slight smile tug on her lips.

“Okay, good.”

He drops her hand and pulls her close to him on the bed.

“Enough of this sappy, saccharine bullshit.  I’m leaving for four months--are we gonna fuck again or not?”

Bulma laughs and presses a kiss to his temple.

“Ooh, baby, you’re always so romantic.”

\--

Krillin wishes he could be spending his last night before the tour with his girlfriend.  Lazuli is _right there_ on the couch next to him.  This night _should_ be perfect, full of soft-spoken farewells and kisses and gentle touches into the night.

Instead, he has to be a good friend.

Piccolo paces their living room anxiously, fidgeting with his hands in a way that Krillin has never seen him do before.

“This tour is going to be hell,” he says miserably.

“I don’t think so,” Krillin says in a way he hopes is helpful. “Like, other than Tien, we’re all kinda cool with Apetail.  Like Yamcha and Vegeta are friends...sorta--and me and Goku. And don’t you teach his kid drums?”

Piccolo stops pacing and shoots him a glare.

“That’s the point,” he says. “I won’t be able to look Kakarrot in the eye.”

“Why?” Lazuli asks. “Did you accidentally break his kid’s fingers with a drumstick or something?”

He shakes his head.

“No.  I had...this dream.”

Krillin exchanges a look with Lazuli who shrugs.

“What kind of dream?” he asks.

“Rated PG,” he says, waving a hand, “but it was about Chi-Chi.”

_Uh-oh._

“What happened?” he asks.

“Well, I came over for Gohan’s lesson and she told me how she had feelings for me, too--”

“Too?” Lazuli interjects.

Piccolo glares at her and she holds her hands out, a look of disinterest on her face.

“So she kisses me.  And then Kakarrot comes home.  She tells him she’s leaving him for me.  He punches me in the face. That’s when I woke up.”

Krillin shakes his head.  That’s--too much for him. Piccolo clearly has a crush on Chi-Chi, which is, to put it simply, bad news bears.

“Just ignore it,” Lazuli says. “Forget it happened.”

“She’s right,” Krillin adds. “Just put it out of your mind.  Don’t think about it.”

Piccolo glances between them, shoulders up around his ears, as if he doesn’t want to hear it.  Finally, they drop and he sighs.

“You’re right,” he says, clearly disgruntled at that fact. “And neither of you tell him.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Lazuli asks irritably.

“Your brother is marrying his brother.”

She purses her lips and rolls her eyes, but stays quiet.

“I won’t tell him,” Krillin assures him. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to piss him off.  You saw him with Cell, right?”

Piccolo shudders, which he takes to meant that he definitely _does_ remember that.

\--

Turles can’t remember the last time he was actually around Cabba.  He thinks it has to be after the tour they had done with U6 last fall and winter.  Maybe, now and then, he’s seen him in passing, but he still thinks it’s strange that he would call him out of the blue and ask for a hook up.

He tries not to look at Broly as they pass through the living room and into Raditz’s room.  He feels weirdly guilty even though he has zero plans to do anything sexual or even physical with Cabba.

“Are you all packed?” he asks in his kind, even voice as if he isn’t here to do drugs.

“For tomorrow?  Yeah.”

Cabba sits on the bad and prods at a relatively new-looking piercing through his nose.

“Oh, good.” He takes in a shaky breath. “Sorry.  I’ve just got a lot on my mind. Which is why I…”

Turles nods.  Cabba looks tired.  He remembers him from their last tour, always helping move stuff and being peppy and smiley.  He wonders what’s up.

“You wanna talk about it?”

He shakes his head furiously. “No.  It’s my own problem. Can we--uh?”

He nods again and fetches the baggie from under the bed.

“Does Raditz care that you keep, uh, that under the bed?”

Cabba’s refusal to mention the drug itself like the cops are listening in is honestly kind of cute.

“Nah.  Radi puts up a front of being the ‘responsible’ one of us, but that’s only because he’s always had to watch out for Kakarrot.  He fucks it up just as much as the rest of us.”

Except Broly.  Turles closes his eyes, tries to will away the feeling.  God, he can’t wait to get obliterated.

He’s surprised at how well Cabba takes it--to the point where he suspects that this isn’t his first time.  He’s a boy scout, but he’s also friends with Caulifla so it can go either way. Turles watches him wipe his nose and sniffle through it.

“I just,” he says and sighs. “I fucked up and now something that could be good is ruined.”

“Yeah?”

He finds his problems far more interesting than dealing with his own and now he seems loosened up enough to talk.  Cabba’s hands flutter at the collar of his shirt and then drop to mess with the hem.

“There’s this guy,” he says, “and we have history and.  I like him. A lot. But he’s seeing someone and he...thinks I like him for the wrong reasons.”

He bends down on the nightstand again but Turles stops him.

“Slow down,” he advises. “I mean, this shit is cheap and basically aspartame but like.  Chill.”

Cabba nods. “Right.  Sorry.”

“Is this about Tarble?”

He cringes and that’s all he has to say.  Honestly, Turles thinks it’s hilarious that he and Tarble slept together when they played the town where his college was.

“I don’t have a thing for Vegeta anymore,” he says quickly. “I mean, I had this idea of him and--I like him, and look up to him as a musician and--all that.  But. I don’t. I’m not. I like _Tarble._  But I think I blew it because he’s _with_ someone and I.”

He closes his eyes and drops back on the bed.  Turles has zero clue how to comfort people so he awkwardly pats his knee.

“That sucks.”

“I was a virgin,” he says, “when we slept together.  I. Shit. Shit. Shit!”

Cabba pops back up and looks like he’s about to cry.  This, Turles can handle. He puts his arms around him and pulls him into a hug.  He’s good at being tactile. It’s with words and emotions were things get fucking messy.

He feels Cabba’s lips worry against his neck and he pulls back.

“You don’t want this,” he says. “You just finished telling me about your crush.”

“I know.  I just. You feel nice.”

Turles shakes his head.  Shit, this kid is on the road to being as fucked up as the rest of them.  He decides that the best thing to do is just call him a ride and get him home.

Cabba stumbles as he goes into the Uber, his arms around Turles’s neck.

“Thanks for listening,” he says. “And for.  You know.”

He winks exaggeratedly and Turles rolls his eyes.  This fucking kid. Smacking the roof of the car, he walks back into the living room where Broly is still watching a movie.

“We just did some lines,” he says, “We didn’t.  There was no sex.”

Turles wrinkles his nose at the thought.  Cabba is like a bunny or a puppy. He isn’t someone he would entertain sexual feelings about.

Broly stares at him for a while and then says, very slowly, “I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that.

\--

Watching all of the farewells, Yamcha can’t help but feel slightly smug that he and his boyfriend are on this tour together.  He glances at Tien, who’s talking to King Kai about something. What it is is lost over the sound of the two, rumbling bus engines.

They had had a good talk last night.  There was no rush, no need to be together before they left because there’s no need for it.  Instead, they talked about Tien’s frustrations about the group and Yamcha had mentioned that maybe their sound wasn’t as authentic or raw as Apetail’s despite being within the same genre.  Brought up his own songs, inspired by his teen years spent on the street. Surprisingly, Tien responded positively to them. Said he was working on himself, on his reactions and approach to being a musician.

He’s glad.  More glad to go on tour with him as a whole and complete couple.

His lack of spatial awareness having him banned from helping the roadies and Nappa load the buses with their suitcases and gear means that Yamcha’s able to walk around and look at everyone else.  Kakarrot is holding Chi-Chi against his chest, dropping kisses on her head while she twirls her finger in the material of his shirt. Nearby he sees Piccolo studiously looking away from them and what’s _that_ about?

Krillin and Lazuli are having a similarly emotional good-bye.  More of the same from Lapis and Raditz who are all but devouring each other’s faces on the sidewalk.  He notices someone standing by themselves, smoking and making no move to help Nappa haul anything into the bus.

Yamcha draws up next to him and holds his hand out for a cigarette. Vegeta regards him with disdain for a moment before pulling the pack from his jacket pocket.  He uses his own lighter to light it and eyes him over the tip.

“I don’t get this dumb rule,” he says, breathing out smoke as he speaks. “What’s the worst she’s gonna do?  Cry?”

He half-expects Vegeta to haul off and punch him.  He honestly has no clue where their relationship stands.  Yamcha thinks that he just tolerates him for Bulma’s sake.

“It’s not her,” he says.  He drops his cigarette butt on the ground and stamps on it.

“What?”

“She’s not the one who cries.”

With that, Vegeta turns and gets on the bus.  Yamcha stares after him in shock. He--

“Wait!” he calls. “You can’t just leave with that!”

No answer, of course.  He can’t believe he would admit that.  And why tell him? He thinks back to when he was upset over Tien fucking upstate to work on his “art” and how he said he thinks he could do better.  Are...are he and Vegeta _friends?_  Why else would he tell him this?  Unless, of course, he knows that no one would believe Yamcha if he told them.

This tour is going to be interesting.

\--

Broly awakens some time on the road.  There’s a weird half-light on the bus even though it’s night outside.  He can make out the others, at least. In the seat behind him, he sees Kakarrot and Vegeta, both asleep.  Their heads are pressed together and there’s a line of drool dripping from Kakarrot’s open mouth, pooling on his shoulder and catching the light.

Across the aisle, he can see Raditz wrapped up in a blanket, only the top of his hair visible and the only sign that he’s alive being the light snores emanating from his cocoon.  Broly glances back to where Turles is sleeping, his face smooshed up on the window. He thinks he might still be partially asleep because he gets up.

He walks down the aisle of the bus carefully, aware of how it sways and bumps over every groove in the road.  He settles next to Turles and curls in on himself. He thinks of their conversation last night and how he flippantly disregarded him.  He doesn’t want to pretend that the thought of him screwing someone in the other room bothers him. Turles has his own life, if he wanted--but he was relieved to know that he and Cabba didn’t do anything.

Broly closes his eyes and slips to the side.  He doesn’t realize his head is on Turles’s shoulder until he shifts beneath him.  He goes to move, feeling his face flame in embarrassment, but then Turles’s arm comes out to wrap around him.  He doesn’t think he’s aware of it. His face is still against the window and his eyes are closed, but Broly, slowly, settles into it.  He closes his eyes again and tries to get to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, i love and appreciate every bit of feedback i get and don't be afraid to hmu on tumblr at vertigoats.tumblr.com :D


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